Clutch.



C. C. RICH.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED 0019, 1911.

Patented June 6, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET! ill wwe/wtoz C. C. RICH.

CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED OCT-9,1911.

Patented June 6, 1916. 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Sum/whoa CHARLES CLAYTON RICH, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW

KINETIC TRANSMISSION COMPANY, A

YORK, ASSIGNOIR TO THE HYDRO- CORPORATION OF MAINE.

, cmrrcn.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES CLAYTON RICH, citizen of the United States,residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New,York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutches, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements inclutches of the fluid type, and the invention has for its primaryobje'ct'a simple and ellicient construction of clutch in which the partsare sov arranged that a fullrelease may be secured with a comparativelyslight movement of the actuating parts.

The invention also has for one of its main objects an improved fluidpressure clutch which will be compact and strong and particularlyadapted for use in connection with the transmission mechanism ofautomobiles or other motor driven vehicles, the parts being soconstructed and arranged that they will occupy, in the vehicle, aminimum amount of space.

The invention also has for one of its ob jects a clutch of the characterspecified in which the rotor will be held to revolve about a fixed axisbetween relatively stationary casing walls, the rotor embodying a hubthat is movable therein in a longitudinal direction with the drivenshaft to which it is secured, there being a spline or similar connectionbetween the main body of the rotor and its hub and the driven shaftbeing journaled at one end in the rotor casing, where by torsionalstrains will be resisted to the best possible advantage. And theinvention also aims to simplify and otherwise generally improve thisclass of devices and render them more useful and commercially desirable.1

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainconstructions, arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shallhereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention; reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view Speciflcaflon of LettersPatent.

Application filed October 9,

' veloped.

Patented June 6, 1916. 1911. Serial No. 653,682.

on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3 of a fluid pressure clutch embodying theimprovements of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an irregularlydeveloped section taken approximately through the planes of thedisplacement passages so as to clearly'show the arrangement of saidpassages. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the device, thesection line 2 marked upon this figure indicating approximately theplanes upon which Fig. 2 is de- Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view ofthe hub of the rotor with its jaw, hereinafter specifically described,and the relatively stationary jaw designed to co-act therewith; Fig. 5is a detail perspective View of one of the heads of the rotor casing;Fig. 6 is a similar view of the body portion of the rotor and one of itsgates shown detached therefrom and in juxtaposition thereto, and Fig. 7is a detail'perspective view of one of said gates.

Corresponding and like parts are designated by the same referencecharacters throughout the several views. 7

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the casing of myimproved fluid pressure clutch, said casing containing a rotor R havingan annular body portion 2. A hub 3 snugly fits and slides therein. Thebody portion 2 of the rotor is formed with any desired number ofperipheral recesses 41 to receive the radially movable blades 5, saidblades in the present instance being formed on their pressure faces withradirelatively large ports 8 extending there- I through from the outerto the inner wall of said body portion, the present embodiment of theinvention employing four of these ports, corresponding to the number ofblades used, and said ports being located preferably close to and inadvance of the pressure faces of the respective blades, being disposed.sub

stantially parallel thereto. The ports 8 are designed to register attheir inner ends with a comparatively deep annular channel 9 formed inthe hub 3 intermediate the ends of said hub, when the hub is in oneposition, the hub being movable longitudinally in the casing 1 so as toeffect the registry of the ports 8 and channel 9, as well as topartially or wholly cut off the communication between said ports andchannel. The hub 3 has a spline or similar connection with the bodyportion 2 of the rotor, there being four keys or splines in the presentinstance, as indicated at 10 in Fig. 3. The splines 10 may be secured tothe hub and work in grooves in the body portion of the rotor, or securedto the body portion and work in grooves in the hub. The hub 3 is keyedor otherwise rigidly secured to a driven shaft 11, of which it may beconsidered to form a part, the said shaft being movable longitudinallyin the casing 1, and being journaled at one end. therein, preferably ina ball bearing, as indicated at 12. The shaft enters the casing througha stufling box 13, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The hub 3 is formed at one side with a chamber 14: designed toaccommodate one end of an expansion actuating spring 15 mounted in thecasing and reacting against one end of the latter, the spring exertingits tension against the rotor hub to move the same into its fullyoperative position. The other side of the hub 3 is formed with or hassecured thereto a jaw 16, designed, in one position, to interlock with acomparatively stationary jaw 17 formed on or secured to the adjoiningcasing head. In the present embodiment of the device, the jaw 16 isformed with lugs 18 designed to slip in between corresponding lugsformed on the jaw 17, it being understood that any desired number andshape of these lugs may be employed, and, in fact, the jaws may be ofany desired construction and formation just so long as they are capableof an interlocking engagement when one is moved into contact with theother.

From as much of the description as has preceded, in connection with thisaccompanying drawings, the operation of my improved fluid pressureclutch will be apparent. When the parts are in the position illustratedin Figs. 1 and 8, it will be understood that the annular channel 9 ofthe clutch in, it is only necessary to release the spring 15, whereuponthe hub 3 of the rotor, with the driven shaft 11, will be movedlongitudinally in a direction (to the left as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2)to carry the channel 9 out of registry with the ports 8, so as to firstpartially and then wholly cut off communication between the channel andthe ports, the liquid then acting against the pressure faces of theblades 5 of the eccentrically mounted rotor, and the movement of thedriving element being thereby transmitted to the driven shaft 11, thelatter, when the communicato-n between the ports 8 and channel 9 hasbeen completely out off, rotating substantially at the same speed as thecasing. In order to relieve the rotor from the strains of thetransmission of power after the rotor and its casing have beenhydraulically connected, I have provided the jaws 16 and 17, beforementioned, it being understood that the jaw 16 will be moved intointerlocking en gagement with its mating jaw so as to directly connectthe casing 1 with the shaft 11, at one limit of movement of the latterand the rotor hub 3. To release the clutch, a reverse movement of partsis, as is manifest, necessary, this being accomplished in any desiredway, as by the ordinary foot pedal or other accessory usually employedin devices of this character. It will be noted that a very slightlongitudinal movement of the driven shaft 11 and the rotor hub 3connected thereto, is sufficient to move the parts from full release tofull operative position, and vice versa, this, in connection with thecompactness of the structure resulting from the arrangement of partshereinbefore specified, being a desideratum, particularly when used inconnection with automobiles or other motor vehicles. In order to providefor the displacement of the fluid so as to impart sensitiveness to theapparatus and insure ease of operation, I have provided the rotor hub 3in the present instance with transversely extending displacementpassages 19 which intersect the annular channel 9, and for the samepurpose the heads of the casing 1 are formed, with passages 20, as bestillustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, said last-named passages communicatingwith a circumferentially elongated chamber 21 that is formed in thecasing wall. The provision of the chamber 21. notonly affordscommunication between the passages 20 of the respective casing heads,but serves to lighten and balance the casing, it being, of course,understood that the outer wall of the casing is concentric with thedriven shaft 11 while the inner wall thereof is eccentric thereto.

While the drawings show what I believe to be the preferred embodiment ofthe in.- vention, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited thereto and that various changes may be made in theconstruction, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A fluid pressure clutch including an outer rotatable casing formingone clutch element, a shaft extending into the casing, a rotor mountedon the shaft and inclosed within the casing, blades on the rotor, saidrotor having ports opening into the spaces between said blades, saidshaft being longitudinally movable and carrying-means movablelongitudinally with the shaft for connecting the several ports to eachother to provide for a circulation of motive fluid when the shaft ismoved in one direction but disestablishing communication when the shaftis shifted in the other direction to prevent egress of motive fluid fromthe space between the blades to thereby cause the hydraulic connectionof the clutch elements with each other.

2. A fluid pressure clutch including an outer rotatable casing formingone clutch element, a longitudinally movable shaft extending into thecasing, a bladed rotor mounted on the shaft and eccentric to the casingto thereby provide a fluid space between the casing and rotor, saidrotor having ports extending inward to the center of the rotor, a membermounted upon said shaft for rotation therewith and with the rotor, butlongitudinally movable with relation to the rotor and having aperipheral duct adapted when the member is shifted in one direction toestablish communication between said ports and when shifted in the otherdirection to cut off said communication, and means for causing alongitudinal movement of said member to cut off or estab-' lish saidcommunication upon a longitudinal movement of the shaft in one or theother direction.

3. A fluid pressure clutch embodying an outer rotary casing forming oneclutch element, a shaft extending into the casing and longitudinallymovable therein, a bladed rotor mounted on the shaft and disposedeccentric to the casing, said rotor having in wardly extending portsopening into the space between the rotor and the outer casing, a membermounted upon and surrounding the shaft and upon which the rotor ismounted having a peripheral duct adapted in one position of said memberto connect the ports with each other and in another position of saidmember to out off communication between said ports, clutch teeth carriedby the shaft and by the casing, means causing a movement of the saidmember with the shaft to disconnect the ports of the rotor upon anoutward movement of the shaft and a movement of the member to connectsaid ports upon an inward movement of the shaft, said means permittingfurther movement of the shaft to bring its clutch teeth into engagementwith the clutchteeth of the casing after communication between saidports has been cut-ofl and also permitting release of said clutch teethprior to restablishing communication between said ports.

4. In a fluid pressure clutch, an outer rotatable casing forming oneclutch element,

a shaft extending into the casing and longitudinally movable therein, abladed rotor surrounding the shaft and disposed in said casing, saidrotor being eccentric to the casing and having ports extending inwardfrom the exterior of the rotor to the interior thereof, said ports beingin the same plane, a member mounted upon said shaft and having slidingengagement with the rotor but rotating therewith, said member having acircumferential duct adapted in one position of said member to connectall of said ports to each other and in another position of the member tocut off communication with said ports, and means constantly urging themember into the last-named position, the

shaft and said member being shiftable against the force of said urgingmeans.

5. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted in saidcasing and comprising a body .portion formed with ports and a hubportion mounted centrally in the body portion and formed with a channeladapted to register with the inner ends of said ports, the outer ends ofsaid ports opening at the periphery of the body portion, means tendingto move the hub in a direction to carry the channel thereof out ofregistry with said ports and a shaft mounted in the casing and movablewith said hub.

6. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted withinsaid casing and comprising a body portion held to rotate about afixed'axis in the casing and a hub held to rotate with said body portionbut capable of longitudinal movement therein, the body portion beingformed with ports and the hub being formed with an annular channeladapted to register with said ports, a spring within the casing tendingto move the hub longitudinally in a direction to carry its channel outof registry with the said ports, and a shaft connected to said hub.

7. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted in saidcasing and comprising a body portion formed with ports and a hub mountedwithin the body portion and held to turn therewith but capable of alongitudinal movement therein, the hub being formed with a channeladapted to register with said ports, and means for mechanicallyconnecting the hub and the casing upon the movement of the hub in onedirection.

8. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted in saidcasing and comprising a body portion formed with ports and a hub adaptedto turn with the body portion but capable of a longitudinal movementtherein, the hub being formed with a channel adapted to register withsaid ports, a jaw carried by the hub, and a jaw carried by the casingand arranged for interlocking engagement with the first-named jaw uponthe movement of the hub in one direction.

9. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted in saidcasing and comprising a body portion provided with radially movablegates and formed with ports extending therethrough closeto and disposedparallel with the pressure faces of said gates, and the hub mounted inthe body portion of the rotor and formed with a channel adapted toregister with said ports, and means for moving said hub longitudinallyin the body portion to carry thechannel out of registry with the ports"10. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted thereinand comprising a body portion formed with ports and a hub mounted in thebody portion and movable longitudinally therein, the hub be-- ing formedwith a channel adapted to register with said ports and the hub beingfurther formed at one side with a chamber, a shaft to which the hub isconnected, and a spring mounted in the casing with one end in saidchamber and pressing upon said hub to move the latter in a direction tocarry the channel out of registry with. the ports.

11. A fluid pressure clutch including a casing, a rotor mounted thereinand embodying a hub and a body portion, the latter being formed withports and the hub being formed with a channel. adapted to regmessesister with said ports, the hub being movable longitudinally in the bodyportion and formed with a transversely extending displacement openingintersecting the channel.

12. A fluid pressure clutch including acasing comprising a body portionand a hub portion, a rotor mounted in the body portion of the casing andprovided with means for hydraulically connecting the r0- tor to thecasing and for disconnecting it hydraulically therefrom, and a shaft towhich said means are connected, the hub portion of the casing beingformed with displacement passages and the body portion of the casingbeing formed with a chamber establishing communication between saidpassages.

13. A fluid pressure clutch including a rotatable casing, a rotor withinthe casing and spaced therefrom to inclose a fluid medium between thecasing and the rotor, said rotor being formed with ports opening intothe space between the rotor and the casing, a longitudinally shiftableshaft within the casing concentric withthe rotor, means rigid with saidshaft for establishing communication between said ports or cutting offsaid communication, means actuated by a rotation of the casing relativeto the rotor when said ports are so cut-off for compressing the fluidWithin the casing and thereby hydraulically locking the rotor to thecasing, and means for mechanically locking the casing to the shaft aftercommunication between said ports is cut-off and mechanically releasingthe casing from the shaft before said communication is established.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES CLAYTON RICH.

